The Souyuz lander which will be carry the first British astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS) arrived at its launch site in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, after travelling for two hours in train.

It took almost two hours for the train to take the rocket to the launch pad, known as Site No 1. Mr. Peake during his mission to the space station will be accompanied by American Tim Kopra and Russian Yuri Malenchenko.

The rocket will take around six hours to reach the orbiting outpost, where they will dock and join the crew at the space station.

Visitors who gathered at the launch site include relatives of astronauts, members of the back-up crew, space agency officials and journalists. The crowd anxiously saw how the rocket was rolled out of its hangar and was lifted to the vertical position at the launch site where Yuri Gagarin became the first human to blast into space in 1961.

Among the people present at the site were parents of Tim Peake mother Angela Peake told BBC News that it is fantastic to be at Baikonur to see her son and his team’s launch. She also mentioned how proud she feels of her son.

Tim’s father Nigel Peake said Tim is all set to go on the mission. He is trained enough and is happy. They are all together and are waiting for the lift-off.

The entire scene was very emotional when British astronaut Tim Peake said goodbye to family and friends before setting off to be launched into space to the International Space Station (ISS).